


The Pilot and the Squid

by brOken_records



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Brotherly feels, Gen, Wee!Tracys, little bit of ansgt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:48:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22904983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brOken_records/pseuds/brOken_records
Summary: “It’s stupid really.”Scott eyed him carefully.“It’s not stupid if it’s stopping you from sleeping.”
Relationships: Scott Tracy & Gordon Tracy
Comments: 8
Kudos: 20





	The Pilot and the Squid

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Daydreamingdaisy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daydreamingdaisy/gifts).



> Hi guys, so this is a happy birthday fic for a close friend of mine. There are no spoilers, I promise.
> 
> It's set in the TAG verse, but may contain bits from the original series. In terms of ages I have gone with my own headcannons and what worked for this fic. For reference Alan is 6, Gordon is 8, Virgil is 10, John is 11 and Scott is 14. I may add more chapters but not sure when.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy @Daydreamingdaisy ;)

_Gordon was floating. Or at least he thought he was. He had never been in space. Only seen numerous space films and heard his father talking about it._

_The stars surrounded him and he felt cold. He looked around for the double dipper, the southern cross, anything that looked familiar but there was nothing._

_He spun, only to see a space station suspended before him. Except the side of it was blown inwards, like it had been blown apart by a passing asteroid or something. There was a logo on the side of the viewport that Gordon couldn’t quite make out…_

_Heart in his throat, Gordon pushed himself towards the ship. Eventually he made it to its side, his hands rested on the charred edge. He turned his attention to the logo and he froze in shock._

**_TRACY INDUSTRIES INC._ **

_No!_

Gordon woke with a start. He lay there trying to quiet his breathing.

He looked over to see Alan lying in the bed next to him, fast asleep. The kid was snoring lightly which made Gordon relax a bit. He loved his little brother but coaxing him back to sleep was difficult.

Heart beating hard, he got up and crept out of the room he shared with Allie, then down past his brothers’ rooms.

His father wouldn’t be back from space for another week. The eight-year-old knew that he couldn’t call his father because Jeff was busy and would not appreciate being called right this minute.

Grandma was an option, but he was reluctant to wake her because she had been up late trying to get Allie to fall asleep.

The last time he had had a nightmare he had been 5, and he remembered exactly who he had gone to then. That was not possible anymore.

Besides he was a big boy now and he didn’t need comfort. He just needed some hot chocolate to put him back to sleep.

Gordon wasn’t to know, but it had been many years since microwaves had made a great deal of noise when they were used. In fact, back in the 2030s manufacturers had done their best to ensure that microwaves could function without making a peep.

If he had had a microwave that was made in say 2020, he would not have been able to make himself a hot chocolate without waking up the entire house.

As it was, the microwave merely popped open it’s door when it was ready. Gordon grabbed the mug gingerly and was delighted when it didn’t burn his hand.

He carefully threaded his way through the kitchen and slipped out the front door. He didn’t go far, just seated himself on the porch and looked out at the property.

They were staying at the family ranch, as a sort of vacation. Though Gordon couldn’t understand why his father couldn’t vacation with them.

The night air was cool, and Gordon looked up at the sky.

He knew that space was a great source of fascination for several of his brother’s, but mostly Alan and John. Granted Alan couldn’t articulate himself all that well yet, but he had been very interested in Gordon’s spaceship toys.

Space had never appealed to Gordon the way it did for the others. He wasn’t sure why.

He was partway through his hot chocolate when he heard the door open behind him.

Gordon spun round with a small yelp, only to see his oldest brother standing there. He was carrying a blanket and another mug of hot chocolate in his hand.

The teenager raised an eyebrow at Gordon.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he whispered.

“Had a nightmare,” he said just as softly.

Scott nodded, then carefully closed the door with his foot.

Scott came forward and sat down, but not before draping the blanket round his brother. Gordon tried to glare at this treatment, unaware that it just looked like he was pouting.

His older brother’s lips twitched but he made no comment.

They sat quietly for a while. The only sound a distant bird.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Gordon glanced at him, then at his hands.

“It’s stupid really.”

Scott eyed him carefully.

“It’s not stupid if it’s stopping you from sleeping.” Scott shuffled closer, putting an arm around Gordon’s shoulders. Gordon leaned into the embrace. “Come on, Squid. What is it?”

Gordon stared into his hot chocolate. This was the first time he had sat like this with Scott in a very long time. Sometimes it seemed like Scott didn’t have time for him anymore.

“Just worried about dad. How he’s doing.”

Scott sat there quietly. Which was odd for those who knew him. Scott was hardly ever quiet. Not unless he was listening. His older brother had always been the best at listening.

Gordon opened his mouth and an image of the space station appeared behind his mind’s eye. He could feel tears gather in his eyes.

“I’m worried. Space is dangerous and- and if something bad happens to him out there, no one on earth could ever get to him in time. What if his oxygen runs out? What if he makes a mistake and ends up out of the space station without a life support suit? What if-“

Scott reached forward and properly hugged his little brother as Gordon cried into his shoulder. Scott rubbed soothing circles into his back. Gordon was past the age where he hero worshipped his eldest brother. But at this moment, Gordon tried to remember the way it felt.

Eventually Gordon subsided a bit and Scott let him pull away, but he still gripped his shoulders.

“Gordon, I want you to listen okay? Dad has trained for this mission for years. He has accounted for every scenario that he can think of. But I also need you to remember that he is going with Captain Lee Taylor. Who has also worked hard. I’m not saying that they have come up with every scenario there is. But I can tell you that if something does happen, they will come up with a solution because they are the best people for this mission.”

Scott stared into his brother’s eyes and held them.

“They’ll be back before you know it, Gordon just you wait.”

Gordon was sceptical, but he allowed his brother’s words to wash over him.

They sat like that for a moment. Just being in each other’s space, sharing the warmth.

Eventually Gordon leaned further into his brother’s shoulder and whispered: “Will you read to me?”

Scott looked down at him, then gave a small smile.

“Sure, Squid.”

He helped Gordon to his feet and together they walked inside.

“I don’t want to wake Allie though,” said Gordon.

Scott shook his head.

“We won’t,” and he led Gordon to his own room. It was immaculate, aside from his brother’s bed which was rumpled. Scott’s laptop was still laid out on his desk, but Gordon’s gaze was drawn to his bookcase which was filled with tablets and holoprojectors, and a book, an actual paper book was stacked in the bottom shelf. It looked old, and it was. At nearly 70 years old the front cover was faded, and many of the pages had been dogeared. Gordon remembered his mother teaching him how to read, his tiny finger moving across the pages.

Gordon hadn’t been in Scott’s room for a very long time. It wasn’t that the teenager didn’t want to spend time with his siblings, but ever since he had started high school, Gordon hadn’t seen much of him. It seemed to him that Scott was always busy now. It made Gordon reluctant to start high school. Ever. He was perfectly happy at Grade School.

He had started hanging out with Virgil to watch him paint or listen to him play the piano. Or with John, who often took him star gazing on the roof, which neither Scott nor Grandma were supposed to know about. Or with Allie, who he played boardgames with, or more recently small-time pranks against his older brothers. Unfortunately, Allie had not mastered the poker face yet, which made him a bad partner in crime. But he would learn. Gordon would make sure of that.

Ever since their mother had died, Scott had grown more and more distant from him. He knew not to take it personally, but sometimes he missed being the youngest. Sometimes he missed the attention he would get from Scott. He wasn’t jealous of Alan, really he wasn’t. But sometimes he wished Scott would spend time with just him.

Now Scott pulled out the book and sat himself down on the bed. When he looked up, Gordon was still standing in the doorway, looking a little lost. He smiled encouragingly and held his arm out in clear invitation.

A small grin lit up Gordon’s face as he leapt up onto Scott’s bed and curled up at his side. His older brother was warm as always, and Gordon rested his cold feet on Scott’s bare leg.

“Ugh Gordon! Your feet are frozen,” he whispered even as he pulled the blanket over his brother’s feet.

Gordon just grinned and wrapped his arms round Scott’s waist, wriggling a bit and jostling Scott.

Scott sighed and mock-glared down at Gordon: “Comfy?”

The younger brother nodded.

“Alright then,” but there was a pause, and Gordon looked up at him. His older brother’s brow was furrowed.

“I don’t remember the last time I read to you,” Scott said.

Gordon shrugged and tried to pretend that it didn’t matter. Scott ran his hands through his brother’s hair.

“Let’s try to do it more often, yeah? Maybe at a more reasonable time. But would you be up for that Squid?”

There was a high chance that such an activity would involve all of his brothers, but Gordon found himself looking at the photo on the bedside table. It was a recent one, with the four of them at the beach. Scott was laughingly hanging Gordon upside down, while Alan was sitting on John’s shoulders and laughing his head off. Virgil looked as though he was trying to act like he was the mature one out of all of them, but Gordon could see he was struggling not to laugh.

Gordon looked up at Scott again.

“Yes! Now are you going to start the book or not?” He grumped.

The teenager eyed him keenly. Then put the book down for the moment.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been around very much. I get caught up in my studies but that’s no excuse. I’ll try to do better.”

Gordon stared down at Scott’s star-spangled bed spread, then grinned as something occurred to him: “There is no try.”

Scott snorted. “That is true. So, am I forgiven?”

He stared down at his younger brother, this time waiting for an answer.

Gordon tilted his head, considering. Then nodded.

“S’pose so. Do you think we can go to the pool tomorrow?”

Scott laughed, then hugged his brother tightly.

“I’ll talk to Grandma but there’s no reason we can’t.”

There was a pause, then: “I love you, Squid.”

“Love you too, Scooter. At least I do when you aren’t hogging all the peanut butter.”

Scott shook his head in mock offence, but he couldn’t stop smiling.

“Alright, shall I start now? Else we won’t get any sleep tonight. And grandma will kill me.”

Gordon glanced at the clock on Scott’s wall then stifled a yawn.

“Sure Scotty…”

“Okay, here we go: ‘ _In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit hole…’”_

_  
_

* * *

  


The next morning, Grandma went into Alan and Gordon’s room to get them up for the day, only to find that Gordon wasn’t in bed.

Not too concerned, she got Alan up and set out some clothes for him to wear. Then she carried him out to the kitchen for breakfast.

She passed by Virgil’s room and his snores echoed down the hallway, at John’s room she could hear a podcast playing through the door. Something about a space exploration some years back. At Scott’s room, she found that the door was open.

Something made her peek in, and inside Gordon was curled up at his older brother’s side, dead to the world. Scott had his arms round him. There was a book lying on the covers that Grandma recognised.

She couldn’t help but smile at the pair of them, but that was nothing on the impish smile that Alan was making.

“Gramma, take picture!”

She shook her head in response, then shifted Alan in her arms.

“Better not, Allie. They’ve had a long night and I wouldn’t want to wake them.” She quietly shut the door but committed the image to memory. It was rare to see the two of them like that. The two boys had their differences, but Grandma was delighted to see them working through it.

“Come on Allie, let’s go make some breakfast.”

“Oooh, pancakes?”

He looked at her with wide eyes and couldn’t bring herself to say no. Humming she went down the corridor, already figuring out what ingredients they would need and all the things they could do today. She loved all her grandsons but she couldn’t wait until it was time for them to go back to school…


End file.
